Sweet Potato Pasta

Most of our meals are not planned. I got a new veggie spiraler the other day and also found a bag of sweet potatoes in my pantry from before thanksgiving. I'm not huge on sweet potatoes, despite them being super super healthy for you, and despite having been on GAPS before, but I thought why not. I spiraled them up and just kind of went with it. It was the first time I ever attempted this dish, and while tasty had some lessons to be learned :)

• 2 Tbs Butter (or ghee or omit)
• 2-3 Tbs Olive Oil
• 1 Small Onion, minced
• 2-3 Cloves of Garlic, minced
• 2 Large sweet potatoes, noodled 
• 2 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 Tbs Sour Cream (optional)

If you don't have a spiraler, you can use a veggie peeler to make flat fettucine noodles. If you are using a spiraler, I have read that most have issues with sweet potatoes- personally i think because of the shape. For my spiralizer, i had to choose potatoes that were skinny enough to turn. I did spaghetti noodles, but wonder if the fettuccine style might be more pleasing to look at on the plate

I melted the butter, added the olive oil, and sauteed the onions and garlic. I also added some crushed red pepper because i like it. I added the noodles, tossed to coat, put a lid on it and left it to steam. I waited til they were cooked through before adding the balsamic, but i don't know that that was necessary.

This is sauteeing in olive oil with onions and garlic. Leaving it uncovered and just sauteeing for 2-3 minutes would have given me curly, al dente noodles.

 I melted in the sour cream around the 5 minute mark and it added a very pleasant richness to the dish. Add your protein so it is warmed through (i did canned clams) and devour.

*This is admittedly not the prettiest dish I've ever made, but it was tasty at every stage in the cooking process (it smelled amazing cooking in the butter and onions and tasted great too). The sweet potato is definitely edible at every stage in cooking, so i might make them more al dente in the future. The balsamic cream sauce was also delicious, but the dish would probably be prettier if i made the sauce separately :)

Vegetarian Lumpia

My mom traveled a lot as a kid (and is now a travel agent) and lived some pretty incredible places. I'm sure you know by now means that i grew up eating some rather non-traditional dishes for an American kid. One of my favorites growing up was Lumpia- a phillippino springroll filled with beef, bacon, potato, onion, carrot, and cabbage. I made this recently, but without the proper wrappers had some trouble rolling and frying them, so we ended up just eating the filling out the bowl. Tonight I needed a quick sidedish, so i omitted the meat and ended up with tasty pan fried vegetables.

Vegetarian Lumpia Sidedish

Time: 10-15 minutes
Serves: 2

• 1 Large Potato, peeled and diced
• 1/2 Small Onion, diced
• 1 Carrot, julienned, minced, or in peels (however you like)
• ~1/4 head of Cabbage, sliced thin.
• ~1 tsp Black Pepper

Place all the vegetables in a hot pan with about 1 Tbs of oil. Cover with a lid and cook until potatoes are done, about 10 minutes. Coat liberally in cracked black pepper, stir, and salt to taste. Serve alongside protein of choice.

I always have these vegetables in my house so it's a quick and tasty choice

*For the full version, add 6 strips of bacon, diced and 1lb of ground beef. Let the filling cool before you roll it into eggrolls. Lumpia wrappers are a special kind of wrapper- wheat and rice and super thin. Look for them in an Asian grocery store!

Chili and Corn Muffins

Chili

Serves ~10-12?

This is, admittedly, one of the most stuff-from-cans things that i make, but most of the stuff-from-cans is organic/beans so ::shrug::. We generally buy organic everything, but non-organic is still going to taste fine.

-4, 15oz cans of Kidney beans (I like 2 light and 2 dark because i enjoy the color contrast)
*I use 4, 15.5oz cans instead of 2, 33oz cans because it just fits in my crockpot better. 2 large cans works fine too, it just fits a little less comfortably.
-1, 18oz Can of Tomato Paste
-2 lbs ground beef.
-1 Onion, minced (i stick this in a personal blender because my husband has a thing about onions)
-2 Tbs Chili Powder
-2 Tbs Cumin Powder
-1 Tbs Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
-1 tsp Garlic Powder
-1 tsp Cayenne Powder (Optional, we like it spicy)

Mix the beans, tomato paste, and spices in your crock and set to low. Cook beef on the stove and drain off the fat.  Add onions to the pan and cook for ~5 minutes so the meat is super flavorful. Add to the crock and turn to low or high depending on desired cook time.

Corn Muffins

Bake at: 350*F for 10-15 minutes
Makes: 4 dozen minis

I use Ina Garten's Corn Muffin Recipe. and, because we're a family of 2, I do a couple of things different from her recipe: Firstly, I make minis and secondly, there is enough butter in these, you don't need paper liners. I either make a half batch (~24 minis) while my chili is cooking OR I make a whole batch (which is about 4 dozen minis) and freeze them, keeping the bag of frozen muffins next to the containers of frozen leftover chili. They DO reheat well.

This is a wet/dry deal so use 2 bowls, dry ingredients in 1 and wet ingredients in the other
-3 cups Flour
-1 cup Corn Meal
-1 cup sugar
-2 Tbs Baking Powder
-1 1/2 tsp Salt

-1 1/2 cups Whole Milk
-2 Large Eggs
-2 Sticks Unsalted Butter, Melted

Add Wet to dry and combine until just mixed. You don't want to overmix. I pour this (and all batters i do) into a large ziplock and cut the tip off so i can squeeze it into the muffin tins. Bake at 350* for ~12 minutes

Curry

Asian food is a favorite for us and over the years I've tried my hand at making different dishes. For 2 years, I've been telling my husband I could make curry if i tried and today I did it. The important thing in this recipe is making the sauce, and you can put whatever vegetables you want in it.

Time: ~30minutes
Serves: 2-4 depending on how soupy you like it

Step 1: Begin making rice- my husband HAS to have rice with a curry dish
Step 2: The Sauce

-2 cans of coconut milk (i buy this in bulk from back in my GAPS days)
~12inches of lemongrass (since it's january, we just bought the two stalk pack at the grocery store), sliced and separated
-1 Shallot minced
-2-3 garlic cloves minced
-1/4 tsp ginger powder or a thumbnail piece of ginger
-2 Tbs Red Curry Powder
*Extra Cayenne to taste
-1/2 tsp fish sauce
-2 Tbs Brown Sugar (or Honey for GAPS/paleo)
-Juice of half lime

Bring coconut milk to a simmer. Add lemongrass stalks and shallots. Simmer ~5 minutes before adding remaining ingredients.

Step 3: At this point i also added my vegetables (we did sliced carrots and cabbage with cashews, but bell peppers, water chestnuts, stewed tomatoes, snow peas, broccoli, and bok choy are good too) Simmer for 5-10 minutes before adding a cooked protein. We bought our shrimp pre-steamed so they just needed heated through. Curry can simmer for quite sometime so if your protein is raw, just add it and cook it through (or cook it separately and add to the pan). Serve over rice. Optional: Top with crushed peanuts and fresh cilantro. Turned out yum! just like the Thai restaurant. I won't say I'd try to compete with anyone who makes curry as a staple part of their diet, but as an avid consumer of Thai food, this was delicious!

Bonus: You can also cut out 1 can of coconut milk and thicken this recipe with 2-3 TBS of peanut butter for a great curried peanut sauce to dip shrimp or chicken in!

A Vegan For Dinner- Mushroom Tarragon Pierogi, Grilled Vegetable Salad, and Cucumber Slaw

Tomorrow, an old friend is coming to visit, and has over the years transitioned to veganism. I will be sharing the recipes for our vegan table spread.

First thing first is to understand what veganism is and to what degree your guest follows it. Vegans do not eat animals or animal by-products. The big difference here between cooking vegetarian and cooking vegan is that most vegetarians are lacto-ovo, meaning they eat milk and eggs. Vegans do not. Most vegans do not eat honey and a small percentage do not eat fungus (mushrooms, the yeast in beer). I roll my eyes at the fact that a great number of them wear leather, but such is life. A bigger challenge here is that in our house, we don't eat soy which is often what would replace dairy. My guest eats both honey(logic: without bees there are no fruit and vegetables and beekeepers have a vested interest in fighting colony collapse disorder) and fungus (cuz who really feels bad for the fungus? it's so hard to empathize with fungus). I googled vegan dishes and found this link, which is excellent, and selected the grilled vegetable salsa from there! The rest are vegan adaptations of things we eat everyday.

Our vegan lunch will consist of: Mushroom Tarragon Pierogi,Grilled Vegetable Salsa, Thai Cucumber Salad, and Fresh Watermelon. I prepared most of it this evening for serving tomorrow.


Mushroom Tarragon Pierogi
While pierogi are not grain free for the paleo people, they are something i make by hand and keep in the freezer. More importantly, the super basic dough recipe that i use just so happens to be vegan.

-1 pack Mixed Shrooms (about 1 cup)
-2-3 Tbs Tarragon
-Salt to Taste

In a food processor, blend mushrooms and tarragon into a finely minced paste. Transfer into a pan with olive oil, add more tarragon if desired and salt to taste. Make your pierogi shells, fill, boil, freeze, and sautee. 1 pack of mushrooms will fill approximately 15 pierogi.


Grilled Vegetable Salad
*While I'm calling this grilled, the lazy in me just used my stove top
-1 Zucchini- chopped
-5 Ears of Corn
-1 Onion- diced

Basically, grill up your favorite seasonal vegetables and mix them together in a bowl. Then toss them with this dressing:

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lime juice (2 limes) I’m sure lemon works too

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 small garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp minced fresh cilantro (or herb of choice)

1 tsp maple syrup (or other sweetener)

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Salt & Pepper, to taste

I made this the day of, but prepped the dressing the night before

Thai Cucumber Salad

2 cucumbers, spiraled or slices (I spiral mine on basically an apple-corer-peeler-slicer)

1 Tbs peanut butter- melted

1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil (I keep this in the cupboard because I love Asian cooking)

2 Tbs Apple Cider Vinegar

Toss all ingredients together and serve immediately. You can also use this sauce for "Asian slaw" with cabbage and carrots

How we cook Salmon

Growing up, I really hated salmon. It's still a hit or miss experience when dining out, because Salmon can be VERY fishy/stinky if prepared improperly. So here are some tips and tricks for cooking salmon properly, so you can enjoy it as intended.

Couldn't resist tasting before the photo op. This is a 1/4lb wild caught salmon served with homegrown blue potatoes(with thyme and butter) and local green beans

• Always buy fresh. We live across the street from a grocery store which makes this easier
• Know your portion. We portion at around 1/4lb so while wild caught salmon costs ~$12/lb, it costs us $6 for dinner.
• Always dry off fish before cooking it in oil. Water and hot oil are not a good combination.
• Black Walnut oil helps negate that fishy flavor. Our local grocery stores sell this. Since I use it mostly for cooking fish, i keep it in the fridge. It remains liquid in the fridge.
• The skin scrapes right off after you cook it. I like to put mine in the pan skin side down first so i can remove the skin while the other side is cooking. We give the crispy skin to our dog as a special treat.
• Cook salmon 5-7 minutes or to a doneness of your liking
• Salmon is versatile and pairs well with many flavors. It goes great with fruity dressings or with dill and cream, and is a favorite in our house.

Homemade Pierogi

Salmon pierogi up top, mushroom pierogi on the bottom

I have yet to find frozen pierogi without soy in them. By making them myself, i not only get to cut all the crap out, but i get to make some pretty unique fillings since pierogi ARE dumplings. The recipe below comes from a genuine Polish friend who taught me how to make them during a summer stay in the U.S.

Pierogi Dough

-2cups Flour (i haven't tried wheat or rice flour, but they would probably substitute fine)
-3Tbs Olive Oil
-1/2-3/4c Warm Water
-Dash of Salt

This is basically pie dough, which is crumbled and mixed on a countertop with your hands like any other pie dough. This can be difficult to get thin enough, so divide your dough in 2 and cover the extra to keep it from drying out while you roll it as thin as you can, around 1/16th of an inch is ideal. Use a glass or large round cookie cutter to cut your circles. I find a goblet to be slightly smaller than a pint but still a great size. Take the extra dough, add a little water, and re-roll it once. The dough gets tougher with each rolling so it is just not worth it a second time. You should get about 3 dozen circles from 1 batch of dough.

 Fill them, making sure all the edges are pinched well (forking the edge is a great failsafe) and boil them for about 10 minutes or 5 minutes past when they float. The thicker your dough was, the longer they will take to boil. Drain on a tea towel.

You can eat them right then, or freeze them for later. To freeze them, you want to lay them out on waxed paper on a sheet that fits in your freezer (a smaller sized cookie sheet fits in mine) and freeze them individually so they don't stick together. Once frozen, you can toss them all in a ziplock bag and store them. As Americans, we like to eat them fried up/sauteed in a pan with a little butter. Don't thaw them out, just throw them right into the skillet.

Fillings:
These are homemade so you can fill them with whatever you want!We fill them with:

*Crumbled Salmon sauteed with dill and cream
*Minced Wild Mushroom and tarragon
*Geleed Blueberries with honey (puree, reduce, and chill for a gelee like consistency)
*Spiced and Sweetened Pumpkin (tossed in cinnamon sugar after)
*Traditional Mashed Potatoes with Cheese and Onion

The runnier fillings can make the pierogi harder to stuff. I recommend chilling when you can, and pinching the outer corners of the pierogi prior to filling when you can't. When freezing multiple flavors, i like to do different edges on each type of pierogi so i can mix them together and still make sure everyone gets some of each.

Blueberry Pierogi with Cream

Honeyed Cayenne Chicken

This is a dish that I've made for years (pre-diet) and a favorite in our house. I have put all the ingredients into a pyrex and baked it for ~15 minutes in the past, but since I've been cooking up chicken breasts once a week to keep in the fridge, I just left 2 in the pan to make dinner tonight.

• 1 boneless chicken breast per person
• 1 Tbs floral "blossom" honey (orange blossom, cherry blossom, plum blossom, etc)
• Cayenne Pepper to taste

In a pan, cook chicken til done. Lower to med-low heat. Sprinkle chicken liberally with cayenne pepper. Add Tbs of honey and allow to melt. As it melts, flip the chicken over in it to coat. Serve warm.


*You can use other honeys, but I find floral honeys to add extra dimension, be less cloyingly sweet, and smell divine when cooking. 


Sidedish;
This week I served this with sliced button mushrooms and bokchoy, sautéed in olive oil with montreal steak seasoning.

Acorn Squash Soup

Roasted squash has the texture of mashed potatoes and the sweet nuttiness of pumpkin pie. This was my first foray into Acorn Squash and I found it surprisingly easy. Start by cutting your squash in half, scooping out the seeds and roasting it cut side down at 400* for ~30-40 minutes. Let it cool for 20 minutes.

Scoop your squash into a medium-large saucepan with a spoon. *If you do not have an immersion blender (I bought mine for $15 on amazon and I love it), put these items directly into a food processor instead of the pan. It should scoop out very easily and leave you with a clean shell. Top with 1 carton of chicken stock (we buy organic and read the ingredients labels, but you can make your own or use veggie stock). Add 1 tsp cinnamon. We also added 1/2 tsp cayenne for a little kick. Use your immersion blender to puree til smooth. This is going to be very thick on its own. If you'd like a bisque, you can add cream but it really doesn't need it. Heat through at medium heat and reduce to a simmer. Serve whenever you're ready to eat it.

Thai Lettuce Wraps & Cucumber Salad

For The Wraps:
Time to prepare: ~15-20 minutes

• 2 large lettuce leaves per person (I use iceberg, but romaine or bib would work too)
• 2 Tbs of Cooking Oil (For thai food, I love to start with Ziggy Marley's Coco'Mon coconut oil in ginger lemon)
• 2 Tbs julienned carrots
• 2 Tbs shredded cabbage
• ~ 1/2 tsp Garam Masala seasoning from my Curried Squash recipe
• 1/2 tsp honey(or to taste)
• 2 Tbs cashews or peanuts
• 1 Chicken Breast per person, diced
• 1 Tbs Chopped cilantro
• 1 Tbs Chopped Basil

Melt the oil in a large skillet. Add seasoning and sautee til fragrant. Add in honey, nuts, carrots, and cabbage. Cook for 1 minute to start veggies to soften. Add chicken, Coat in sauce (which is oily to keep it from sticking to the pan) and cover, letting it steam, stirring occasionally until cooked thoroughly. Lay out your leaves on a plate, 2 leaves deep to help with tearing issues. Pile Thai chicken in the center and garnish with basil and cilantro. Wrap it up and devour!


Cucumber Salad
Time to prepare: ~5-10 minutes. I prepared this while the oil was heating and while the chicken was coking. it was finished before I filled my wraps

• 2 cucumbers, spiraled or slices (I spiral mine on basically an apple-corer-peeler-slicer)
• 1 Tbs peanut butter- melted
• 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil (I keep this in the cupboard because I love Asian cooking)
• 2 Tbs Apple Cider Vinegar

Toss all ingredients together and serve immediately. You can also use this sauce for "Asian slaw" with cabbage and carrots

Crab Cakes

Time to prepare: ~25 minutes

• 1 small container of jumbo lump or special mix crab meat
• 1 Egg
• 1/2 tsp Brown Mustard
• 1/2 tsp Old Bay Seasoning
• 2 Tbs Almond Flour

Mix ingredients until fully coated. Shape fist-sized crab cakes, compressing with hands and squeezing out excess fluid. Makes 3 medium- 2 large crab cakes. Place on a baking sheet. Bake 15-20 minutes at 400*F. Serve over greens with a poached egg and a dusting of cayenne pepper.


*Baking will allow these to cook fully and hold their shape better than sautee-ing in a pan will

Steak Fajita w/ Cherry Chipotle Salsa

I usually just eat this out of a bowl, but lettuce is a good handheld wrap as are the coconut paleo wraps.


6-8 oz Steak- we usually choose a grass fed flat/flank steak or a sirloin. Slice into strips
1/2 Onion- peeled and sliced 
1/4 c Sliced Mushrooms
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes 


Add all ingredients to pan or marinate steak in advance. When steak is half-cooked, add 2 Tbs balsamic vinegar to the pan. Cook steak to desired done-ness.




Cherry Chipotle Salsa
In a blender, combine:


2-3 Chipotle Peppers
1 Clove Garlic
1 tsp Honey
1 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbs diced Onion
1/4 c Basil Leaves
1+ c Black Cherries


Serve fajitas in a bowl or diet-friendly wrap of your choosing topped with salsa, cilantro, and julienned cabbage for crunch

Curried Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Squash is a sweet, slightly nutty and delicious healthy food you'll want to try at least once. You can google how to microwave it, but since we don't use a microwave in our house, I'll give you the traditional recipe. Hyperlinks are to recipes I've used, but posted here are my tweaks and how I make it.


Step 1: Prepare your squash

• Cut the squash in half lengthwise (this is actually kind of hard, and I make DH do it every time)
• Scoop out ALL the seeds and that stringy pulpy innard stuff. You can strain the seeds and roast them later if you want.
• Drizzle the inside of the squash with olive oil and make sure all the cut sides have been coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place cut side/flat side down on a baking sheet.
• Bake at 375*F for 1 hour. It really doesn't need watched
• Remove from oven and gently scrape out squash meat with a fork. It will separate into strands like spaghetti.

Step 2: CHOOSE A RECIPE!!!
Once you have the squash cooked, you can prepare it however you want. Add marinara and meatballs, make a Primavera like my good friend, Nik, or my favorite- Curry


I usually like to start making the sauce ~5-10 minutes before I pull the squash out of the oven.

• Heat 1Tbs of oil in a pan. I like to use Ziggy Marley's Coco'Mon Lemon Ginger Coconut Oil in this recipe.
• Add 1-2 tsps. of grated ginger or gingerpowder and 1 tsp of garam masala spice to the oil. Heat a minute until fragrant.
• Stir in 2Tbs of Lemon Juice and 1-2Tbs of Honey.
• Pour over spaghetti squash and toss with cilantro. Serve

You can buy garam masala seasoning, but it's really expensive and pretty easy to make at home. I made it with spices I had in my cupboard. It doesn't need to be perfect but make sure everything you put in it gets well blended. The recipe below is based on what comes in a store bought spice rack and in my cupboard. Substitute seed or powder based on what you have. Blend in a personal blender or spice grinder and store in a mason jar in your spice cupboard. Makes ~1/4 cup

• 1Tbs of Coriander Seed
• 1 tsp Ground Cumin
• 1 tsp Ground Cardamom
• 1 tsp Peppercorns
• 1/2 tsp Fennel Seed (which I didn't have when I made mine- still great)
• 1/2 tsp Mustard Seed
• 1/4 tsp Ground Cloves
• 1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• 1 tsp Turmeric